Men's basketball squares off against rival UAA Saturday night
January 17, 2013
Jamie Foland
474-6807
Following last week's home sweep, the Alaska men's basketball team rounds out its three-game home stand when it takes on in-state rival Alaska Anchorage on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. inside the Patty Center.
The Nanooks (10-4, 5-1 GNAC) have won six straight games, including the five consecutive Great Northwest Athletic Conference victories, while the Seawolves (10-4, 3-3 GNAC) have won two in a row.
Alaska was named GNAC Team of the Week on Monday after a pair of dominant performances at home against Saint Martin's (81-58) and Western Oregon (89-56). The Nanooks won by an average of 28 points after limiting their opponents to a combined 36 percent shooting while allowing a total of six three pointers.
Senior guard Dominique Brinson was named GNAC Red Lion Player of the Week after averaging 22.0 points per game. He scored a season-best 28 points against WOU after he drained a career-high six threes. He shot better than 60 percent for the week and had nine triples to go with 10 rebounds and eight assists.
Entering the weekm five players rank in the GNAC's top 10 in eight separate categories. Junior forward Sergej Pucar leads the league with 8.5 rebounds per game while junior guard Pat Voeut is second with 5.2 assists per game. Brinson places third in free throw percentage (.889) while Voeut is seventh in the same category (.829).
Brinson is also fifth in three pointers per game (2.4) and eighth in scoring (15.0 ppg). Voeut and junior forward Andrew Kelly are tied for sixth in steals (1.5) and Kelly also ranks ninth in blocks (0.9). Pucar is seventh in three-point percentage (.485) while junior forward Stefan Tica is eighth with two treys per outing.
Alaska averages 78.4 points per game and ranks third defensively as it only allows 67.9 points to its foes. The Nanooks rank second in field goal percentage defense (4.09) while also placing third in scoring margin (+10.5 ppg), rebounding margin (+8.7 rpg) and assists (18.3 apg).
Game 15: Alaska vs. Alaska Anchorage – Jan. 19 at 7:30 p.m.
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Alaska Anchorage enters Saturday's match-up with a 10-4 overall record with a 3-3 mark in GNAC play following a pair of home wins over Western Oregon and Saint Martin's last week.
UAA scores 76.8 points per game while holding opponents to 68.6 per contest. The Seawolves are second in the GNAC in both assists (19.2 apg) and assist/turnover ratio (1.4) while ranking third in free throw percentage (.718), three-point percentage (.400) and offensive rebounds (12.8 rpg).
Kyle Fossman is fourth in the league with 15.9 points per game this season after draining a league-leading 3.1 treys per game. He is also second from the free throw line (.895), eighth in three-point percentage (.467) and tied for ninth in steals (1.4 spg).
Other key contributors include, Collin Spickerman, Christian Leckband and Liam Gibcus. Spickerman leads the GNAC with 1.5 blocks per game, Leckband is tied for second in three-point percentage (.567) and Gibcus is fourth in shooting percentage (.600).